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contempt that assuredly awaits you, and also the ruin that is, in all probability, your doom.

Taking it for granted that you will not suffer more than a second or third session of the female comité, let me say a word or two about the conduct of men in deciding between the conflicting opinions of husbands and wives. When a wife has a point to carry, and finds herself hard pushed, or when she thinks it necessary to call to her aid all the force she can possibly muster, one of her resources is, the vote on her side of all her husband's visiting friends."My husband thinks so and so, and I think so and so; now, Mr. Tomkins, don't you think I am right ?" To be sure he does; and so does Mr. Jenkins, and so does Mr. Wilkins, and so does Mr. Dickins, and you would swear that they were all her kins. Now this is very foolish, to say the least of it. None of these complaisant kins would like this in their own case. It is the fashion to say ay to all that a woman asserts, or contends for, especially in contradiction to her husband; and a very pernicious fashion it is. It is, in fact, not to pay her a compliment worthy of acceptance, but to treat her as an empty and conceited fool; and no sensible woman will, except from mere inadvertence, make the appeal. This fashion, however foolish and contemptible as it is in itself, is attended, very frequently, with serious consequences. Backed by the opinion of her husband's friends, the wife returns to the charge with redoubled vigour and obstinacy;

and if you do not yield, ten to one but a quarrel is the result; or, at least, something approaching towards it. A gentleman at whose house I was, about five years ago, was about to take a farm for his eldest son, who was a very fine young man, about eighteen years old. The mother, who was as virtuous and as sensible a woman as I have ever known, wished him to be" in the law." There were six or eight intimate friends present, and all unhesitatingly joined the lady, thinking it a pity that Harry, who had had "such a good education," should be buried in a farm house. "And don't you think so too, Mr. Cobbett ?" said the lady, with great earnestness. "Indeed, ma'am," said I,

I should think it very great presumption in me to offer any opinion at all, and especially in opposition to the known decision of the father, who is the best judge, and the only rightful judge, in such a case.' "This was a very sensible and well behaved woman, and I still respect her very highly; but I could perceive that I instantly dropped out of her good graces. Harry, however, I was glad to hear, went "to be buried in the farm house."

"A house divided against itself," or, rather, in itself, "cannot stand ;" and it is divided against itself if there be a divided authority. The wife ought to be heard, and patiently heard; she ought to be reasoned with, and, if possible, convinced; but if after all endeavours in this way she remain opposed to the husband's opinion, his will must be

obeyed; or he, at once, becomes nothing; she is, in fact, the master, and he is nothing but an insignificant inmate. As to matters of little comparative moment; as to what shall be for dinner; as to how the house shall be furnished; as to the management of the house and of menial servants: as to those matters, and many others, the wife may have her way without any danger; but when the questions are, what is to be the calling to be pursued; what is to be the place of residence, what is to be the style of living and scale of expense; what is to be done with property; what the manner and place of educating children; what is to be their calling or state of life; who are to be employed or intrusted by the husband; what are the principles that he is to adopt as to public matters; whom he is to have for coadjutors or friends; all these must be left solely to the husband in all these he must have his will; or there never can be any harmony in the family.

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VALUE OF A WIFE'S ADVice. NEVERTHELESS, in some of these concerns, wives should be heard with a great deal of attention, especially in the affairs of choosing your male acquaintances and friends and associates. Women are more quick-sighted than men; they are less disposed to confide in persons upon a first acquaintance; they are more suspicious as to motives; they are less liable

to be deceived by professions and protestations; they watch words with a more scrutinizing ear, and looks with a keener eye; and making due allowance for their prejudices in particular cases, their opinions and remonstrances, with regard to matters of this sort, ought not to be set at naught without great deliberation. Louvet was one of the Brissotins who fled for their lives in the time of Robespierre; this Louvet, in his narrative, entitled "Mes Perils," and which I read, for the first time, to divert my mind from the perils of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, but with which I was so captivated as to have it read many times since; this writer, giving an account of his wonderful dangers and escapes, relates, that being on his way to Paris from the vicinity of Bordeaux, and having no regular passport, fell lame, but finally crept on to a miserable pot house, in a small town in the Limosin. The landlord questioned him with regard to who and what he was, and whence he came; and was satisfied with his answers. But the landlady, who had looked sharply at him on his arrival, whispered a little boy, who ran away, and quickly returned with the mayor of the town. Louvet soon discovered that there was no danger in the mayor, who could not decipher his forged passport, and who, being well plied with wine, wanted to hear no more of the matter. The landlady, perceiving this, slipped out and brought a couple of aldermen, who asked to see the passport. "O yes; but drink first." Then there was a

laughing story to tell over again, at the request of the half drunken mayor; then a laughing and more drinking; the passport in Louvet's hand, but never opened, and, while another toast was drinking, the passport slid back quietly into the pocket; the woman looking furious all the while. At last, the mayor, the aldermen, and the landlord, all nearly drunk, shook hands with Louvet, and wished him a good journey, swore he was a true sans culotte, but, he says, that the " sharp-sighted woman, who was to be deceived by none of his stories or professions, saw him get off with deep and manifest disappointment and chagrin." I have thought of this many times since, when I have had occasion to witness the quick-sightedness and penetration of women. The same quality that makes them, as they notoriously are, mare quick in discovering expedients in eases of difficulty, makes them more apt to penetrate into motives and character.

JEALOUSY.

I NOW Come to a matter of the greatest possible importance; namely, that great troubler of the married state, that great bane of families, JEALOUSY; and I shall first speak of jealousy in the wife. This is always an unfortunate thing, and sometimes fatal. Yet, if there be a great propensity towards it, it is very difficult to be prevented. One thing, however, every

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